Republic Steel to pay $2.4 million in settlement with OSHA

Canton-based Republic Steel has agreed to pay $2.4 million in a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the government announced on Monday, April 28.In the settlement, Republic Steel agreed to abate cited hazards and put safeguards in place at four company locations — three of which are in Ohio, in Canton, Lorain and Massillon. The fourth location is in Blasdell, N.Y.According to OSHA's news release, the settlement addresses more than 100 alleged health and safety violations the administration found during inspections at the plants last fall, including the failure to implement logout/tag out procedures for employees who work on the company's equipment and failure to provide machine guarding. The settlement also encompasses citations from inspections regarding a June 2013 arc flash incident in Lorain and fall hazards in Canton that were issued in August 2013.The inspections in the fall were started “in response to a serious injury after an employee fell through the roof of a building at the Lorain plant,” OSHA said.As part of the agreement, Republic Steel will undergo a number of safety-related upgrades, including hiring more health and safety employees; conducting internal health and safety investigations with members of the United Steelworkers; creating and implementing a plan to identify and fix hazardous work environments; and hiring third-party auditors to make sure those hazards are identified and resolved.Republic Steel also will meet with OSHA quarterly to make sure the agreement is followed. “By agreeing to the terms of this settlement, Republic Steel has demonstrated a commitment to change its culture, invest in its employees, and work with OSHA and the United Steelworkers to make significant changes at its facilities that will improve the safety and health of its workers,” U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez said in the release. “The Labor Department looks forward to working with Republic Steel to ensure that it lives up to its commitment to improve workplace safety.”In addition to the $2.4 million, Republic Steel has agreed to pay penalties if “substantial non-compliance” with the agreement is determined. Republic Steel issued a statement of its own on Monday announcing the agreement. Republic Steel said in the statement that the citations came after a series of “unprecedented wall-to-wall inspections” by 23 OSHA inspectors across almost 80 days.“Naturally, given the breadth of OSHA's inspection and the enormous size of the company's facilities, OSHA found violative conditions, many of which the company was not aware. When these conditions were brought to the company's attention, the company promptly took steps to correct them,” the statement read. Since the company's current owners acquired Republic Steel in 2005, they have invested more than $700 million in the company and made “countless” safety upgrades, including many in 2013, according to the statement.“We look forward to the continuation of our safety efforts and implementation of the new items set forth in the settlement agreement, especially the new safety program,

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